I was shocked to read on the BBC that:

Scotland has the eighth-highest level of alcohol consumption in the world, according to statistics analysed for the Scottish Government.[...]

People aged over 16 sank the equivalent of 11.8 litres of pure alcohol per person. The figure for England and Wales was 9.9 litres.

BBC News

11.8 litres of pure alcohol per person over sixteen in Scotland per year. This also meant that on average every adult was drinking more than the male recommended amount of 21 units per week.

Now this statistic isn’t necessarily accurate. It’s based on alcohol sales figures, and while there’s a strong likelihood that if you buy 8 cans of Tennents Super, you’re going to drink them, there’s always the possibility that the bottle of Advocaat Uncle Bernie bought for you is going to sit in the back of the cupboard gathering dust until you finally throw it out. I think it would be reasonable to assume that the conversion rate (sales to drinks) is going to be less than 100%, particularly when you consider all of the half-empty pints found around pubs at the end of the night.

But for comparison, I guess it’s probably okay as I’m presuming the other statistics are compiled in the same manner.

However, I do believe, having looked at the associated stories on the BBC site, that I know why the Scots are drinking so much — it would appear from the headlines that binge-drinking is being promoted in the media (“binge drinking adverts launched”) and that efforts are being made to keep alcohol prices at an absolute minimum (“plan for ‘minimum priced’ alcohol”), and they are seemingly piloting sales of alcohol to under age drinkers (“under-age buyers test drink sales”).

Sadly, here in England while we have seen the same binge-drinking ads, our pubs do not seem willing to show the same commitment to keeping prices at a minimum…

However, these drinking statistics are disappointing on so many levels: firstly because as an Englishman, I am appalled that we are letting the Scots drink more than us (so come on lads and boyos — since the Welsh are in our team for tihs one, let’s give them a run for their money). Secondly because while Scotland has an excellent reputation for drinking (indeed, belligerent and incoherent Glaswegian drunks are frequently exported to rail services up and down the country), they are being out-drunk by Luxembourg.

Luxem-bloody-burg? I mean, the Irish, fine, they’ve got their reputation for the craic and the Guinness, there’s no shame coming behind them. But Luxembourg? Come on!

[Note: overconsumption of alcohol is bad, 'kay? This is just a piss-take. Oh, and the value of unit trusts can go down as well as up]